There is always a lot of “avoided arbitration” news around this time, so enjoy the exciting news. Per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Rangers and reliever Neal Cotts avoided arbitration on a one-year deal worth $2.2 million. Cotts, soon to be 34, had a fantastic 2013 season, his first in the big…

Boston picked up some relief help, acquiring right-hander Burke Badenhop from Milwaukee in exchange for minor leaguer Luis Ortega. Badenhop is a strike-throwing ground-ball pitcher who posted a 3.47 ERA and 42/12 K/BB ratio in 62 innings for the Brewers this year and has a 3.68 ERA in 328 total innings since 2009. He’ll likely…

I realize it’s a footnote that the Marlins re-signed Greg Dobbs for $1.7 million earlier today. It probably doesn’t make much of a difference to anyone besides a few Marlins fans who are already so apathetic that it scarcely registered for more than a few minutes. However, I don’t think this should be overlooked or…

The Brewers’ offseason opened with speculation about a push for Josh Hamilton. 3 1/2 months later, their biggest pickup has been Tom Gorzelanny. Mark Attanasio’s Brewers won 96 games and went to the NLCS in 2011, and while the team lost Prince Fielder afterwards, it was able to bring in Aramis Ramirez as a replacement.…

By noon we’d already done a dozen posts about players and teams avoiding arbitration ahead of today’s deadline, so something had to give. We’ll keep posting the more noteworthy cases, but here’s a roundup of the not-so-noteworthy ones that will be updated throughout the day. • Gaby Sanchez and the Pirates: $1.75 million • Antonio…

The Brewers announced this afternoon that they have acquired right-hander Burke Badenhop from the Rays in exchange for minor league outfielder Raul Mondesi, Jr. Badenhop, who turns 30 in February, posted a solid 3.03 ERA and 42/12 K/BB ratio over 62 1/3 innings out the Rays’ bullpen this past season. With a career ground ball…

Giants 3, Dodgers 0: The season nadir for the Dodgers who got swept by their arch rivals in three straight shutouts and lost their lead in the division. And, to add insult to injury, Andre Ethier got hurt. Wait, that’s adding injury to insult I suppose. Ah, you know what I mean. Oh, and Timmay…

Here’s the official list of players non-tendered prior to the Monday midnight deadline: American League Baltimore: OF/DH Luke Scott, LHP Jo-Jo Reyes, RHP Willie Eyre Scott went from hitting .284/.368/.535 during an excellent 2010 season to .220/.301/.402 in 209 at-bats during a 2011 season shortened by shoulder surgery. The Orioles could re-sign him for significantly less…

Now this is more like what we’re used to seeing from the Marlins: cutting corners by giving away a perfectly useful arbitration-eligible player. The Rays on Monday picked up right-hander Burke Badenhop from Miami for minor league catcher Jake Jefferies. It’s a nice get for Tamps Bay. Badenhop’s ERA has climbed slightly, going from 3.75…